


A Series of Unethical Events

by geeky_neanderthal



Category: The Good Doctor (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Melendaire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-23
Updated: 2019-03-23
Packaged: 2019-10-14 19:42:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17514764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geeky_neanderthal/pseuds/geeky_neanderthal
Summary: After the quarantine, Melendez is at risk of losing his medical liscense for ignoring a patient’s DNR. Claire is asked to speak on Neil’s behalf to ensure he stays at the hospital. But will she be able to convince the board to let him go unpunished while also putting her jealousy aside? Well, there’s only one way to find out!





	1. The Proposal

**Author's Note:**

> a little easter egg in here: every chapter is the title of a different rom com. idk why i did that i just wanted to lol

Unethical. Reckless. Ill-advised. 

That was what the board called Melendez the other day when they found out that he’d ignored the DNR during the quarantine. Claire was inexplicably infuriated by their words as she sat down for lunch at the hospital’s crappy cafeteria. How could they sit there and judge him when they had no idea of what Neil- along with everyone- was going through at that time? She grumpily stabbed at the food on her plate, deep in thought. Under Claire’s anger, however, was a tinge of guilt. She had been the one to apply CPR. She hadn’t stopped him. She hadn’t thought twice before helping him. And now Neil was in for a whirl of hurt, and she got off the hook easy since she was simply “following orders from her attending”. They didn’t know that as she had told Melendez when this all went down, she wasn’t just following orders. She made the conscious decision to help him, though as to the reason why, she wasn’t so sure. Claire felt as if this whole thing was her fault, and she cared about him too much to watch him get punished and not her.

Someone walked up to her table. “You okay?” It was Andrews. He stared at her with a look of amused concern as he sat down at the chair opposite to her. “You look like you’re about to murder that french fry.” 

She smiled politely at him. She wanted to rant about how unfair it was that Melendez’s job was at risk, but “Sorry, I’m just a little on edge that’s all,” was all she managed to say. 

“Ah yes, that’s understandable.” Andrews nodded, acting as though he understood everything that raced through Claire’s mind, “The quarantine was a… stressful situation, to say the least. Just make sure your head’s in the game when you’re lunch break’s over. We don’t want any patients ending up like your fries.” Claire laughed a little at that. 

“I presume you didn’t just randomly come to my nook of the cafeteria for fun? Is there a reason why you came here?” Claire realized these words sounded bitter, but she meant them in a respectful way, and she was relieved when Andrews interpreted it like that too. 

“Yes actually.” he started. “I have a proposal for you. As you’re probably well aware, the board has scheduled a hearing with Dr. Melendez and the other doctors for tomorrow night to review his actions during the quarantine and decide if any punishment is necessary.” 

Claire nodded, pursing her lips together uncomfortably as a small silence creeped up between them. 

“Well, I’d like to make sure that Dr. Melendez stays at this hospital, without any punishment.” 

Claire paused for a moment before replying, “I’d like that too. But what do I have to do with it?” 

“We were wondering if you’d be willing to go up and speak to the board tomorrow night about what happened, and about the nature of your professional relationship with doctor Melendez. Talk about how he’s mentored you, speak about his character, that kind of stuff.” Andrews kept going, “So will you agree to do it?” 

“I’d be happy to,” Claire said. It was her regular kind and warm tone, but there was a hint of eagerness in her tone that gave her a lump in her throat. It made her sound like she was ready to take down an army to help Neil, and she didn’t like that it came off that way. She thought for a second before saying, “But why not Shaun or Morgan? Melendez has mentored them just as much, I’m no different.” 

“Well we will have Shaun and Morgan talking as well, but somehow, I don’t find that to be the case, that you’re not different from the others.” 

“He booted me off of his team at one point just because I disagreed with him.” Remembering back, she shifted uncomfortably, thinking of his wide brown eyes staring at her with such disappointment. 

“Isn’t that precisely it? He never took such drastic measures with Shaun when he took a risk. His decision regarding you was clouded by emotion. You have always had a certain connection with him.” She wasn’t sure why, but those words had made Claire’s heart beat faster and her skin tingle, sending her into a confused internal panic. 

“He has always valued your medical opinions over that of the others, and well, it would speak a lot to his ethical habits if you spoke about his habits as an attending.” For some reason, the words seemed to bring a wave of relief over Claire. She thought about it, and then sighed in defeat, somehow knowing that Andrews would make her do it, even if she didn’t want to. 

“Alright, I’ll do it.” Claire said. Andrews smiled victoriously. 

“Thank you, Dr. Browne.” he got up to leave, but not before he turned around and said, “Try not to stab your food too hard, French Fry Killer.” He laughed slightly, proud of his joke. Claire jokingly rolled her eyes once he had turned around so that he couldn’t see. Andrews may have been a jerk at times, but he had his way of roping people into doing things for him. 

She ignored Andrews’ playful warning and went back to stabbing her fries miserably. She had a pit in her stomach, like a little voice. It whispered to her, telling her that the fact that she cared so much about him- about the board, she meant- was going to be her demise as well as Neil’s. 

Why oh why couldn’t Andrews have picked Shaun for this?!


	2. Sleeping with Other People

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morgan and Claire discover Neil's dirty little secret, and Neil considers revisiting his past feelings for someone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn okay, I didn't realize how long this chapter was lol try not to fall asleep while reading it! Hope you guys like this chapter!

Claire came into work the next day uneasy about having agreed to Andrews’ proposal. It was a fairly calm day at the hospital, which gave her time to think about what she could possibly say to help his case. It didn’t help that she couldn’t find Melendez anywhere though. No one was around except for Shaun and Park, who were working on one of the few patients they had. Morgan went to go get something- Claire was too lost in thought to hear what it was- so she just stood there, chin propped up on the desk’s edge with her hand. She was bored out of her mind and ready to go home when Morgan ran up to her. 

 

“I saw something!” She was slightly out of breath as if she’d ran over to Claire in a hurry. 

 

“No, I mean I saw someone.” Morgan clarified. “Or two people to be exact. Trust me, you’re going to want to see this.” She excitedly took Claire by the arm and dragged her somewhere. 

 

“Morgan, where are you going?” Claire giggled. Wherever Morgan was taking her, it felt like a million miles away. 

 

Morgan pulled Claire into a hallway. Melendez’s office appeared at the end, the glass doors glistening like crystal. He was standing in his office with someone who he seemed to be  _ very _ friendly with. 

 

“Seriously Morgan, why are we here?” 

 

“Just look!” She pointed at Neil’s office eagerly. 

 

Claire looked a little harder, focusing on who the other figure in his office was. She let out a small gasp.

 

Dr. Lim and Dr. Melendez were in a tight embrace. Claire could now see the details; their intertwined fingers, the soft brush of Audrey’s lips against Neil’s. It was surreal the way it seemed so discreetly indiscreet. Claire’s heart sank into her chest. How did this happen? She was in utter disbelief. All this time she thought she had some unspoken thing with him, that maybe the reason she cared so much about Melendez was that he cared just as much about her. Clearly, she was wrong. And now she was going to have to defend him in front of everyone. Without realizing, tears started silently streaming down her face. Morgan seemed to notice and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. 

 

“Are you okay? I thought we would gossip about this, not cry.” It was one of those rare occasions where she heard sympathy in Morgan’s voice.

 

“No no, it’s not your fault,” Claire reassured her. She wiped the tears from her face. “I have to go. We have work to do.” She sighed and turned around, keeping her head low to avoid anyone asking about her teary eyes. 

 

When Morgan first came here, she had spent so much time being rude and judgemental towards Claire. She saw her as the enemy. But over these past few weeks, Morgan had actually become close with her. Now, as she watched Claire hurrying away, a wave of anger towards Dr. Melendez and Dr. Lim came over her. She wasn’t completely sure what had made Claire so upset, but she had her guesses. So she walked into Neil’s office and cleared her throat quite abruptly, the two attendings separating themselves from each other immediately.  

 

“ Dr. Reznik, I’m assuming you have a good reason to be here?” Melendez had a polite tone, but Morgan could hear the bitterness in it as well. He looked down and shuffled his feet back and forth, his cheeks flushed with colour in embarrassment.  _ He should just get over it _ , she thought.  _ He deserves it for hurting Claire like that. _

 

“Sorry to ruin your moment, but even though it’s a quiet day we still have patients waiting for us. Just thought you should know.” Morgan trod carefully, but she couldn’t help herself from having the same sassy, annoyed tone as she did when she first arrived at St. Bonaventure’s. After all, they didn’t even have the decency to move away from the glass doors. 

 

Lim sighed, clearly unenthused by the idea of ending her makeout session. “Alright, Morgan. I’ll take you and Park, Neil-- Dr. Melendez... will take Shaun and Claire.” She leaned in and continued at a softer volume. “But please, would you keep what you just saw a secret?” 

 

Morgan hesitated. She was angry at both of them right now for hurting Claire, even if neither of them knew they had. But she wanted to keep her job, so she replied, “Alright. I’ll keep it a secret. I get why you don’t want it to get out so close to your hearing, but is it really that scandalous? Oh, and Claire saw you two as well.” This time, she looked straight at Melendez. He seemed unphased by Morgan’s words, but she could see the hint of panic in his eyes. 

 

“Great,” he huffed, burying his face into the palms of his hands, “can you tell her not to tell anyone? With the hearing coming soon, we’re just a little nervous that it might look bad.”

 

Morgan rolled her eyes. “Claire’s speaking on your behalf to try and get you out of this mess! You really think she would tell anyone your dirty little secret?” 

Neil’s eyes widened in shock. “She is?”

 

“Of course she is, she thinks you’re a great doctor! Why on earth would she do anything to hurt you?! I won’t tell her to keep her mouth shut because A, she will anyway because that’s the kind of person she is, and B, I won’t do your dirty work.” 

 

Lim nodded and turned to Melendez, “She has a point you know.” 

 

Reluctantly, he sighed and agreed. “Fine, I’ll do it. You two can go deal with your patient and I’ll go talk to Claire. Deal?”

 

“Deal.” With that, Morgan walked away with Lim. She was much more friendly to Lim than she was with him, Neil noticed. 

 

* ~ * ~ *

 

The first thing Neil noticed when he found Claire was how Claire’s eyes were tired, red, and glossy like she had been crying. He noticed the tiniest tear come from her eye, noticed the millisecond it took for her to wipe it away, noticed the flush in her cheeks, and the way that when she smiled, it didn’t quite seem as genuine as it normally did. But the thing he noticed the most, the thing that he couldn’t get out of his mind even when he knew it was wrong, was how  _ damn _ beautiful she looked, even through the tears. He felt a tinge of shame come over him knowing he was with Audrey and yet still thinking,  _ how can Claire Browne be so beautiful and so sad?  _

 

Claire stood lost in thought. A swirl of emotions raced through her and she had no idea how to handle them. How the  _ hell _ was she going to handle all of these feelings she hadn’t even known she’d had when she was supposed to be saying nice things about Melendez tomorrow? 

 

Shaun was suddenly standing beside her, his thumb habitually pressing against his toy scalpel. “Why are you crying?”

 

Claire looked at Shaun and laughed a little, wiping her tears away quickly. “It’s nothing. I’m fine, but thank you for asking, Shaun.”

 

Shaun nodded, but kept going, “Dr. Glassman told me that sometimes when people say ‘I’m fine’, it means they are really not fine, but they just don’t want to talk about it. Do you not want to talk about it?” 

 

Claire couldn’t help but smile at him. He really was a sweet friend. “Smart man, Dr. Glassman. It’s kind of a long story, but all you need to know is that I’m glad you’re here. Thanks for being so supportive.” 

 

“You’re welcome.” Shaun smiled and then turned around to get back to work. Claire looked down at her toes and rubbed her eyes to try and make them less red. When she looked back up she froze, shocked to see Melendez standing right next to her, the space between them extremely small.

 

“Hey,” he said awkwardly. She smiled politely and replied, “Hey.”

 

“Are you okay? You look upset.” 

 

She laughed sorrowfully, rubbing her eyes again. “I’m fine.” 

 

“So… Morgan told me what you’re doing, defending me in front of the board. You’d really do that for me?” He sounded surprised. Did he really think Claire didn’t care about him at all? 

 

Claire nodded, “Yeah, of course. It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.” 

 

“It’s not nothing. You’re an amazing person, thank you for doing this.” She nodded, forcing a smile that didn’t feel right.

 

“She also mentioned that you saw what Dr. Lim and I were doing.” He pursed his lips awkwardly, looking anywhere but at her. 

 

Claire inhaled sharply before managing to say, “Yes. I promise I won’t tell anyone if that was what you were going to ask.” She looked at her feet, a little annoyed that he had felt the need to make sure she was going to keep quiet. 

 

“No, I wasn’t going to ask that. Audrey-- Dr. Lim and I trust you. I was just going to ask…” He started but didn’t finish. He had made eye contact with those gorgeous brown eyes, and now he couldn’t look away. He couldn’t finish his thought. His only thought was her. 

 

Claire, however, looked away faster than the speed of light, her eyes becoming red and shimmering again. Her eyes looked up for a second in frustration, and if Neil didn’t know any better he’d say she had rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m happy for you two. I better get back to the scutwork now, excuse me.” She sniffled and scurried away. There was no reason to stay there and pretend to be okay around Melendez. He was happy with Lim, and there was no changing that. She couldn’t even think of speaking on his behalf now. She just wanted to get the day over with. 

 

Melendez watched Claire walk away. Was seeing him and Lim the reason she was so upset? He would feel bad if that were the reason, but that would mean she’d had feelings for him, and he knew better than to believe that. There was a time when he naively hoped that she cared for him, but he gave up hopes of anything happening between them. At the time, he feared it would be too complicated and ruin things. But then again, here he was risking it all with Audrey. So why hadn’t he told Claire how he felt when he had the chance? He thought they had both moved on; that they were dating other people, sleeping with other people, loving other people. He thought he was happy with Lim. Now, as he remembered how he saw the beauty in her tears, in her essence, in  _ her _ … he wasn’t so sure.


	3. 10 Things I Hate About You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A distraught Claire calls Morgan for advice, while Lim and Melendez face some trouble in paradise.

Claire sat in bed softly strumming her guitar. It was the middle of the night, but she’d given up trying to fall asleep. Unfortunately, even the warm happy tone of the major chords on her guitar couldn’t soothe her. She groaned in exasperation and put it away. As she got back into her bed, she couldn’t stop thinking about Melendez and Dr. Lim together. The image felt glued onto the back of her eyelids, like everytime she closed her eyes they kept showing her a painful reminder of what had happened. She was suddenly filled with anger. 

 

_ He is unbelievable,  _ she thought. _ He has the nerve to do that in the hospital in front of everyone. He’s already on the verge of getting his license revoked. He got into this mess because he was unprofessional, and when I try to help get him out, he thanks me by doing yet another unprofessional thing! Unbelievable _ . 

 

_ I should just not help him, _ she continued to think.  _ He gets on my nerves anyway. Him and his arrogant smirk, and the annoying braggy tone he gets when he’s right.  _ She started to make a list in her head of all things she hated about him.  _ He’s seemingly very unethical at the moment, he’s extremely aggravating, slightly arrogant, he probably has way too much emotional baggage, he’s annoyingly attractive and kind, and smart, and the best surgeon I’ve ever worked with, and I’m stupidly in love with him and—  _

 

_ … Oh shit,  _ Claire thought.  _ You… you love Melendez.  _ She began to panic.  _ What are you thinking? You can’t go and speak to the board! You’re in love with him, that’s the most unprofessional you can get! And how the hell are you going to even look at Melendez again without all of your feelings coming back? _

 

Claire got up out of bed and dialed Morgan’s phone number in a panic. The dial tone buzzed in her ear once, twice, three times, then silence. She dialed the number again, and Morgan finally picked up. 

 

“What the hell, Browne!? I’m trying to get my beauty sleep for work tomorrow, you better have a good reason for waking me up in the middle of the night!!” 

 

“I think I’m in love with Melendez.”

 

There was a silence on the other end of the line. For a second, Claire thought that Morgan had hung up. Claire could hear Morgan inhale sharply as she finally replied, “Oh shit.” 

 

“I know.” 

 

“I mean, this is… insane.” Claire had never heard Morgan so thrown off by a single sentence. She sounded shocked. “When did you begin to have feelings for Melendez?” 

 

Claire tried to remember when her feelings had really developed. All of the memories came flooding back to her:

 

_ You made flirting gestures… you brushed your hair back, right side sweep. At Dr. Melendez? I don’t think so.  _

 

_ No, that’s Morgan’s M.O, you’re different. You’re smart, special. _

 

_ You voted for me? You made a strong case.  _

 

“...I don’t know, I guess it just kind of accumulated slowly. God, Morgan, what am I going to do? I have to speak to the board about him tomorrow!”

 

“Yeah, so do we! I don’t want to be up there talking about Melendez while thinking about you two canoodling.” 

 

“Nothing happened between us,” she scoffed. “Besides, you won’t have to. I just need your advice on how to get over him.” 

 

Morgan thought for a moment, silence pouring over the telephone line like a calm wave. “Ok,” she finally said. “You want my advice on how to get over him? Here it is: don’t.” She said matter-of-factly. 

 

Claire sighed, “What?! I have to get over him, it would be completely unprofessional of me not to. Besides…” her voice trailed off trying to hold back tears, “he’s with Lim now.”

 

“Yeah, like that’s going to last!” She said sarcastically. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you. He might feel the same way about you, or he might not, but I’d bet more money on the former.” 

 

“Even if that were the case, what am I going to do about tomorrow?”

 

“I mean you could try just not bringing it up.” She said mockingly. 

 

“Haha, very funny.” She wondered if Morgan could tell that she was rolling her eyes. 

 

“No I’m serious. They have no reason to believe you have feelings for him, so just don’t talk about it.” 

 

Reluctantly, Claire caved in. “Oh, alright,” she said.

 

“Now if you’ll excuse me,” Morgan yawned through the phone, “I’m going to go get some sleep. And as much as I love girl talk with you, if you wake me up again I’ll have to pound on you a little.” 

 

Claire giggled and said goodnight, hanging up the phone. She thought about what Morgan had said, and decided sleep was overrated. She went back to her guitar. This time, the chords were much more soothing, her ears tingling at the beautiful sound.

 

A few minutes later, she had dozed off.

 

~ • ~ • ~ 

 

Audrey sat at her desk. It had been a long night. She was staying late at the hospital with Neil, catching up on paperwork they had missed. They had been… preoccupied, to say the least, earlier. Now they were both in Melendez’s office, the dim lights shimmering over the stacks of papers. Granted, they could have easily stopped their paperwork and done… other things, but for some reason, she felt like that was the last thing either of them wanted to do. Lately, things weren’t the same between her and Neil. She had begun to wonder if they would be better as friends. A relationship was way more stress than she had bargained for, and they had already been through so much. 

 

She noticed Melendez staring at his paperwork, his mind clearly somewhere else. 

 

“You okay?” 

 

His head popped up, whatever train of thought he was lost in disappearing instantly. “I’m okay.” Clearly a lie. 

 

“Right. Sure, ok.” She wasn’t convinced at all, but thought best to leave him be. 

 

“Do you really think…” he started. Her eyebrows shot up. “Do I think…?” 

 

He paused, before saying, “Morgan told me what you said the other day in surgery.” He paused, the silence becoming deafening to Audrey. “Do you really think relationships are better without the emotional baggage?” He spoke cautiously as the words came out of his mouth.

 

“...I just think that things can get confusing between two people and sometimes it’s just better to have that relationship where it’s just not as serious as others. Some people like the emotional parts of it, and that’s fine, I just don’t think you should bring all your baggage into a relationship.” 

 

Neil’s expression hardened and he stood up, “Isn’t the point of a relationship to love someone and all their parts— the good and the bad?!” He took a step back, a sudden realization dawning on him. “Is that what you want with me? To have a relationship and never talk about anything remotely serious? Just the good parts?” 

 

“Yes! No! I don’t know…. Look, at first when I was talking about it with Morgan, I just said what I said to deflect from her finding out about us. Then as I was thinking about it, I just started to agree with it more and more. I mean, think about it, Neil. You and I have been through so much as individuals. That’s a lot of emotional baggage to carry. And with all the challenges that we’ve faced so far, the other stuff would just ruin us …” 

 

He was looking at her, his eyes wide and teary and hurt. Lim hated seeing him like this. 

 

“I…” Neil always thought baggage gave you perspective, gave you wisdom. What was she so afraid of? He remembered Claire’s words.  _ I think you’re confusing baggage with experience.  _ He wondered if maybe that was what he was doing now. His heart suddenly ached, and he wished Claire were there with him. She always knew what to say. 

 

“I get where you might be coming from.” He finally managed to speak, his voice shaky. It wasn’t convincing. He knew she wouldn’t quite believe him, and to be honest, he didn’t believe himself either. 

 

Neil forced a smile and put a shoulder around Lim in defeat. “Come on, let’s just get outta here. We can go for a beer.” He sighed as they walked out of the office. Lim was hesitant to go out for drinks with him after all of that. She was happy that they hadn’t ended up screaming at eachother, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that whatever was going on between them was far from fixed, if it could even be fixed at all.

 

_ On second thought _ , she contemplated,  _ I might need that beer. _


	4. Just Go With It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hearing has finally arrived!! But when Claire speaks on Neil's behalf, it leads to a shocking revelation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had writer's block for the longest time but chapter 4 is finally up my lovelies! Also if anyone wants to comment ideas or prompts for a fic for a ship of their choosing, feel free to do so :)

“Dr. Melendez, Dr. Browne, Dr. Reznik, and Dr. Andrews. Have a seat, please.” 

 

The hearing had finally arrived, and the board members stood before them, their eyes intense and sharp like those of an eagle. Neil, Claire, Morgan, and Marcus all sat down. Claire looked over at Neil. He seemed unphased by the fact that his career was now in the hands of bureaucrats. She wondered if he didn’t realize the severity of what was going on, or if he was just putting on a brave face. Then, Melendez had turned his head to make eye contact with her. Though it was quite subtle, Claire could immediately see how scared he was of losing his job. What she hadn’t expected, however, was that Melendez kept looking at her, and his expression softened. He… smiled. Not a cocky smile, or a polite smile, but a genuine, affectionate smile. Her stomach churned and she gulped, looking away frantically.

 

“We understand that you have brought some residents to speak in favour of Dr. Melendez staying at the hospital, Dr. Andrews?” The woman who spoke was tall, with thin blonde hair. Her tone seemed distant and detached, Claire noticed. 

 

“Uh, yes, we have two.” Andrews stood up to reply to her question. 

 

“Very well. Who will be going first today?” Claire and Morgan looked at each other. Morgan could see the panic in Claire’s eyes and stood up without hesitation. “I’ll go first.” 

 

“So, Dr. Reznik, in your opinion, were Dr. Melendez’s actions on the night of the quarantine unethical?” 

 

The hearing had officially begun.

 

~ • ~ • ~  

 

Ten minutes later, Morgan had finished. Claire waited for her turn outside the room and was now pacing as Morgan walked out. 

  
“You’re up, St. Claire.” She teased. Claire exhaled slowly, and once she was prepared, stepped inside the room. Melendez sat on one end of the room, and the board members on the other. They had gestured at a seat for her to take, so she slowly made her way there and sat down.  _ It’s going to be okay,  _ she thought to herself.  _ Whatever you say, it doesn’t matter. Just go with it.  _

 

“Dr. Browne, how many years have you been working as a resident at St. Bonaventure’s Hospital alongside Dr. Melendez?” 

 

Ok. This was easy, she could handle this. “Around two years, give or take.” 

 

“And during the quarantine, did Dr. Melendez, in your opinion, exhibit unethical behaviour?” 

 

“No.” Claire heard the memory in her head.  _ The patient signed a DNR! He doesn’t have to die. _

 

“According to Dr. Andrews, you were there with Dr. Melendez when he ignored a patient’s DNR, correct?”

 

She looked at Neil, and then down at her feet. “Correct.”

 

“So you took part in ignoring a patient’s requests, yes or no?”

 

She knew the right thing to do. Claire was there with him-- she consciously made the decision to help him. She deserved just as much punishment as him. “Yes. If Dr. Melendez should be punished, then so should I.” 

 

Melendez jumped up out of his chair. “NO! I acted alone, Dr. Browne was just following my orders. Leave Claire out of this.” 

 

Claire took a risk and stood up to face him, replying instantly. “I could have done something, but I didn’t.” Neil looked at her and could see the guilt in her eyes. She continued, “I made the decision to back you up that night. If they want to take away my license as well, then so be it.”

 

“Claire--” his voice sounded raspy and slightly desperate. She sat back down and turned to face the bureaucrats again.    
  


“That was all very touching, Dr. Browne, but Dr. Melendez is right; you were under orders from a superior, hence, any ethical or unethical actions are his responsibility alone.” 

 

Claire nodded, and Neil sat back down, sighing in relief. 

 

“Moving on,” one of the bureaucrats-- a short man in an expensive suit-- began to speak, “Describe your experience working with Dr. Melendez.” 

 

“It’s a great experience to be able to learn and grow as a doctor. He’s the most gifted surgeon I’ve ever worked with.” She wasn’t lying about this. She had said it before and she’d say it again. 

 

“I’m sure he is, but we weren’t talking about skill. We’d like to hear your professional relationship with him-- his behavior around the hospital, his relationships with other doctors, etcetera.” 

 

Claire gulped. “Dr. Melendez is…” images of Neil and Lim began to form in her head, but she pushed them away, though the thought of them still hurt like a bullet to the chest.  _ Just go with it _ , Claire thought.  _ They’ll believe whatever you say _ . She continued, “...very professional with his colleagues. He has always acted with compassion, and he has taught me so much-- all of us, I mean. I strongly believe that he deserves to stay here and to keep his license. He is the doctor that I-- that I trust the most at this hospital… he’s done nothing wrong.” That last sentence made her heart hurt like hell. She was getting sick of having to lie for him. She hated the truth-- that he was with Lim and they were happy, and she’d just be the doctor who saved their asses from anyone discovering the relationship-- but at least the truth was better than all these lies. She couldn’t stop a small stream of tears from rushing down her face now.  _ Dammit _ , she thought.  _ This is the second time this week. _

 

The board members didn’t seem to notice. “Thank you very much. That’ll be all, Dr. Browne.” 

 

“Thank you.” She stood up to leave right away and found Neil standing next to the door looking at her. Unlike the others, he noticed the tears she had tried to brush away.

 

“Excuse me,” she could barely talk. The words came out in a small whisper as she wiggled her way around him and rushed out the door, sniffling quietly. This was officially the worst day of her time here at St. Bonaventure’s. She dashed off to somewhere she could get some air, somewhere she could go to think. As she ran down the hallway, only one place came to mind. So, she turned right and headed for the balcony. Once Claire had arrived, she sighed as the wind outside brushed against her cheeks. Here on the balcony, it was calm and quiet. Here, she was at peace. 

 

Not for long. She hadn’t noticed the footsteps that had been behind her, and a moment later, Neil came running onto the balcony out of breath, the sun tinting his hair into a fascinating shade of dark rich brown.  

 

Neil had almost lost Claire, but fortunately, he still managed to find her on the balcony. Their place. He stood there out of breath from running. To be honest, he wasn’t quite sure why he was there. He knew that he was worried for her and she was upset, but he wanted to know why. He had his suspicions, but he wanted to be sure. 

 

“You run fast.” That was all Melendez said. He was still panting slightly, his chest rising and falling slowly. Claire found it soothing, much to her own surprise. 

 

“I just had to get out of there. I’m sorry if I messed up your hearing. I’d hate to be the reason why you lose your license.” She sighed and wiped a few tears away. 

 

“If anything you helped it. Morgan was good, but she isn’t good with people like you are. Thank you.” He stood there unsure of whether he should say what he really wanted to say. After a long moment of silence between them, he took the risk and decided to ask her. “Why did you agree to help me?” 

 

She hesitated slightly. “Because Andrews asked me to. And, you’re the greatest surgeon I’ve ever worked with, and I owed it to you I guess.” 

 

“Even after I kissed Dr. Lim in front of you? Even after I impulsively booted you off of my team? Even after I involved you in that mess with the DNR?” 

 

Claire shook her head in frustration. “Of course I did! You don’t get it, do you? I did it for you, because--” 

 

Melendez looked at her with anticipation. “Because, what?” 

 

Claire scoffed and sniffled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I--”

 

“Just say it! Why can’t you say it?” 

 

“Because you’re with her!” He knew who she meant when she said  _ her _ and had a stinging pain in his chest. She kept going, her voice shaky. “Because then everything I said in there about being professional would be a lie. Because even if I did feel the slightest ounce of something for you, it’s not as if the feeling is mutual.”

 

“I never said it wasn’t mutual.” It came out as a mutter, so soft yet so raspy it made Claire’s heart skip a beat. He walked up to her until their faces were inches from each other, although Claire had to look up a little due to the height difference. The tension was surreal. She gulped and looked down, taking a little step back. “You’re my boss. You’re with Lim. It shouldn’t happen… it can’t happen.” The tears were falling now faster than before, but she didn’t bother to hide them this time. It just wasn’t worth it. 

 

Surprisingly, a single tear came from Neil’s eyes as well. He hated that things had become so broken between them, and it was his fault. Maybe he didn’t deserve to keep his medical license after all. 

  
  


“I have to go,” With that, Claire headed for the door to get off of the balcony, and proceeded to rush out of the building. This time, Melendez didn’t bother to go after her. He just stood on the balcony and thought of Claire. 

 

_ Claire, I need you to tilt-- exactly…  _

 

_ You really are the most gifted surgeon I have ever worked with. _

 

_ Finding someone you can’t imagine a life without, it’s… hard. I know it’s a cliche, but it’s true. _

 

He knew who he couldn’t imagine a life without. It was clear as day now, and he knew just what to do. Without thinking, he started running again, this time towards Dr. Lim’s office. He finally got there, his heart racing. She was sitting at her computer. When she looked up and saw him, she gave him a look as if to say ‘What are you doing here?’ and then Melendez took a deep breath in and let him say the words that would make things right.

 

“I can’t do this anymore.” 


	5. Crazy, Stupid Love

Claire had called in sick for the past three days.

 

She had needed time to heal from the emotional turmoil she had suffered through. It was experiences like this that had caused her to lose her faith, and now more than ever she felt hopeless and alone. Despite everything that had happened, she missed Neil. Claire knew she had done the right thing in pushing him away, but it didn’t make her feel any less hurt. Surprisingly, her reason to go back to work had to do with a call from Shaun on Thursday morning. 

 

“Hello, Claire.” She heard his voice through the phone. 

 

“Hey, Shaun.” She grumbled. She had just woken up and her voice was raspy. 

 

“You have used three sick days.” 

 

“Yep, I have. Sorry Shaun, I’m just not feeling too great.” She wasn’t lying, technically. She felt like shit, just not physically. 

 

“If you have a serious illness, then you should come in to the hospital. Maybe we could help you.” 

 

Claire smiled. “Thank you, Shaun. I’m alright though. It’s just a cold, I should be back by tomorrow.” She hadn’t meant to say that she’d be back so soon, but the words kind of slipped out of her mouth. 

 

“Okay.” Claire could hear the excitement in his voice, and with that, he hung up. 

 

Normally, she would just sink back into her bed. But part of her felt like she owed it to Shaun to come back. So, the next morning, she pulled on a pair of jeans, made herself possibly the strongest coffee she had ever had, and mustered up the courage to go to work. It was hard, but she held her head high and hoped for the best. With any luck, she would forget about this in no time. She walked into the hospital and sought Morgan and Park.

 

“Ugh you’re finally back! I’m glad to see you’ve stopped feeling sorry for yourself.” Claire was welcomed back by Morgan just hoe she had expected to be. She knew it was second nature for Morgan to be a bit passive sometimes though, and took it as a sign of friendly affection. 

 

“I missed you too, Morgan.” She smiled and gave her a quick hug. “Melendez isn’t coming, is he? I just don’t want it to be awkward.” Morgan sighed, “I wouldn’t worry about that if I were you. For one, he doesn’t know you’re back, which might explain what’s going on with him.” Claire’s brow furrowed. “What’s wrong with him?” 

 

As if on cue, Park came along and heard Claire’s question, deciding to answer it. He snorted, “What  _ isn’t _ wrong with Melendez? These past three days he’s been in the most bitter mood. He tried to throw a clipboard at me when I asked him for a patient’s medical charts.”

 

“Why?!” 

 

“I imagine that’s how someone acts after a nasty breakup.” Morgan chirped in. She leaned into Claire and whispered, “Although, I think it has something to do with why you weren’t here for three days.” 

 

Claire’s mouth gaped in shock. “He broke up with Lim?” 

 

Morgan nodded, looking back down at her clipboard. “Just after the hearing.”

 

Claire tried to make sense of it all. She had told him that they couldn’t be together because he was with Lim…  _ oh god _ , she thought.  _ Please don’t make me the reason that Neil broke up with her _ . She was standing with Morgan trying to get her mind to stop racing when she heard a familiar voice from behind her. “Claire?”

 

It was Melendez. Claire turned to face him. She wanted to scream at him and kiss him and run away and hug him all at once, and it drove her crazy. She huffed. 

 

“We need to talk.” She walked up to him and soon enough, she was grabbing him by the collar and dragging them somewhere private. 

 

“Where are  _ they _ going?” Park stared at the two of them walking away. 

 

Morgan, still focusing on her clipboard, replied, “To cut the crap and get a room, with any luck.”

 

The only place Claire could think to take Neil was the balcony, so she dragged him there. The déjà-vous from the other day was a punch to the gut, but she couldn’t think of anywhere else. She closed the balcony door and let go of his shirt. 

 

“Ok, what the hell was that for? Welcome back by the way— I  _ missed _ you, but it’s not like I could tell you that before you started  _ dragging me through the halls! _ ” 

 

“You broke up with Lim?!” She was fuming at this point, and decided to ignore his comment. “I swear, Melendez, I better not be the reason you broke up with her.” She pointed her finger at him as a warning. “I don’t need that on my conscience!”  

 

Neil understood now the reason for this impromptu meeting. He sighed and put his hands on Claire’s shoulders, attempting to reassure her. 

 

“No no no, you’re not the reason. My relationship with Audrey had it’s issues  _ way _ before what I realized about me and you.” 

 

“So… you  _ didn’t _ break up with her because of what I said the other day?” 

 

“No. It was a mutual feeling we had, and the relationship ended on good terms. It is  _ not _ your fault, that’s for sure.” 

 

She took in a deep breath, relaxing a little. “Okay,” She finally said, in a soft whisper. “Sorry for dragging you and everything, by the way.” She laughed a little and blushed. 

 

Listening to Claire’s laugh, Neil’s eyes sparkled and his face lit up into a smile. He couldn’t help it sometimes. Claire tended to have that effect on him. 

 

“It’s all good.”

 

Claire stared at her shoes and cleared her throat. “Well… I’m glad we cleared that up. I better get going then.”  

 

Claire headed for the door, but Neil began speaking. “ _ Finding someone you can’t imagine a life without is hard _ .”

 

Claire stopped dead in her tracks. She turned around slowly. Everything was silent, and she began to wonder if she had imagined that those words just came out of his mouth. “What did you just say?”

 

“That's what you told me, remember?” She did. It felt like simpler times back then, before things had become so complicated between her and Neil. 

 

“You also told me about all of the reasons why we shouldn’t be together. You almost had me convinced, but then I remembered what you had told me that day, about finding someone you can’t imagine a life without.” 

 

Claire moved in closer to him, their feet now inches apart. “Those reasons are still there, you know. They aren’t gone just because you and Lim broke up. You’re my boss, did you ever think about what could happen if this— if  _ we _ — don’t work out? ” 

 

“I thought about all your reasons, but you know what? I don’t care.” He seemed happy and relieved to say it as he shrugged. “If these past few miserable, unbearable days without you have been any indication, it’s that I can’t imagine a life without  _ you _ , Claire. And I’ll be damned if I have to spend another minute acting like I’m not crazy,  _ stupid _ in love with you.” 

 

Claire’s eyes went wide. “You… what?” 

 

“I love y—,” He began to say simply, as if he were saying something so completely obvious. Before he could finish, Claire grabbed him by the cheeks and kissed him, their lips crashing together like a tidal wave. Claire’s fingertips trickled down to his collar. Melendez put his hands around the small of her back, and kissed her back, his soft lips pushing against hers. The hairs on Claire’s neck stood up as she realized what the hell was happening: she was kissing him. Here, now, kissing Neil with the sun beaming down on them, she felt the happiest that she had been in a while. It felt like a happy ending for them. But the best part of it? 

 

It was just their beginning. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did it, folks! I finally finished! It’s been hard since life’s pretty hectic y’know? but here we are, I know this probably isn’t the best last chapter, but I hope you like it, and feel free to comment down below some requests for future fics!


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